With less than three weeks to go on his term as Door County Sheriff, Steve Delarwelle came to say “thanks” to the 21 members of the Door County Board of Supervisors at the group's meeting Tuesday.

“I just wanted to take a moment and say goodbye to everybody and to thank you for everything you've done for myself and the sheriff's department,” Delarwelle said. “The days are winding down quickly and I know we have common goals: one being taking care of the citizens of Door County and the other is taking care of our employees ... I think the past four years we've done a very good job of both.”

The sheriff noted the spirit of cooperation was critical in meeting those goals “Thanks to the collaboration between us, it gets done."

“It doesn't always work that way with county boards and sheriffs," he said. "Sometimes there's a lot of tension. I've never felt that.”

The most recent example of cooperation occurred at the Board of Supervisors' September meeting, when members voted overwhelmingly to retain jailers and court security personnel as sworn deputies after a proposal was made to reclassify the nearly two dozen men and women as regular county employees. The move would have reduced worker liability protection while lowering wages for new hires.

“Everybody here has worked well with me,” he said. “I think everything has been respectful and we've both learned a lot.”

Delarwelle was elected to the county's top law enforcement post in 2014 after serving nearly 30 years as a deputy in the Sheriff's Department. He announced earlier this year he would not seek another term, choosing to retire at age 60.

Current Door County Jail Lieutenant Tammy Sternard has been elected Delarwelle's replacement. She is to be sworn in Jan. 7.